Ignoring fate
by figments
Summary: Slade strikes again, this time sticking a stranger in with the Titans. She is hiding something, but are the titans prepared to face the music? What truly is Slade after? BBxRae RobxStar, past TerraxBB
1. Chapter 1

NOTE: I don't the Teen Titans . Not even a tiddly bit.

8 Hours Earlier

I was supposed to be a good day. We were celebrating so many things. Victor and Karen's engagement announcement, Dove turned 5 just last week and Mari and I are now an official part of the group. It was supposed to be happy and fun. But of course, nothing is what it's supposed to be.

We were all in the main room, talking, laughing, and then of course his face flashes upon the big screen. Slade. I could see my father's hands clench, knuckles tuning white, and his face twisted into a look of hate and anger. "Slade." Nightwing spit out the word like it was acid in his mouth. The orange and black face filled the room with tension and anger. Changeling hid dove behind him protectively.

"I've been trying to think, what can I get the brand new Titans? Hmmm, I'll tell you what, I will give them a _special _surprise. What do you think Robin?"A dark laugh echoed from his expressionless mask. Mari and I's eighteenth birthday present had been to officially become part of the team. Dad grumbled that we weren't ready but then mom socked him in the arm and said we would be fine. I loved mom. Now that we were part of the team we had to call them Nightwing and Starfire and it felt odd.

"Meet me at the old pier at midnight in warehouse ten. I'll take care of all the details; you just have to show up." He laughed once again. "What you will find will be more unexpected than you realise."

The screen went black, leaving a moment of silence. Everyone's gaze fell on Nightwing. He pounded his fist into his other hand.

"Everyone sit down, I've got a plan."

We arrived at the pier. It felt odd wearing costume like this in the winter. It was all black, sleeveless, with crimson coloured boots, not that the cold affected me or anything. We decided to sneak up, as if Slade was hiding. Mari, Raven, and I came in from the north side, they were flying above me above me while I was riding a motor cycle beneath them. However, the warehouse he described was obviously lit, shining among the darkness. Snow had been moved and disturbed around the building, showing recent use."I detect two heart beats in the building, one rapidly accelerated." Cyborg said over the communicator.

"Two?" Starfire asked confused.

"Why would there be two?" Mari's higher pitch voice echoed her mother's.

"Possibly another apprentice?" I asked.

"Possibly a hostage." Changeling said.

"Let's just be ready for anything, for all we know, it could be a hostage." Nightwing stated. "Alright, let's just continue with the plan for now."

We entered through the roof, hiding in the beams of the warehouse waiting for the others to arrive. Raven was talking to the others over the radio describing the situation. The warehouse was dusty and bleak, old crates lining the walls. Normal stuff.

As we peered down into the warehouse we saw two things, Slade against the opposite wall, laughing, and a teenage girl holding a small knife and yelling. Her clothes had a little blood, and her blonde hair was cut into a short bob with bangs covering the right side of her face down to her cheek. She was tall and slender, wearing small black shorts, a leather jacket, and a purple tank top with black inky designs swirled all over it. An cold breeze flew through the warehouse she paused. She lifted her head and inhaled deeply. A gleam of mischief lit up her eyes.

"You brought the Titans here? Afraid you need protection?" A smile stretched across her pale face. "Oh Slade, what stunt are you trying to pull now?" She said walking casually up to him. She had a very cat like manner, her eyes sharp and smart. She twirled the small knife in her fingers. "Now, before I leave I am going to make this clear. Don't come near me ever again, or I will not be this forgiving." She said. "Thanks!" She smiled and turned away. He reached up to grab her neck, but she was quicker, holding the knife up to his neck. "Did you not understand me the first six hundred and twenty two times I said it. Leave. Me. Alone." Her voice was calm and quiet like she was having a casual conversation.

Slade punched her hard in the left arm, while he ripped the knife out of her other hand. A boom echoed through the warehouse. Suddenly, Nightwing burst through the destroyed door compliments of Cyborg's sonic canon. "Put down the knife." He called. Slade and Nightwing exchanged glares of loathing from one another. She looked from Nightwing to Slade, and a mischievous smile lit up her face. You could visually _see _Slade's eyes narrow as she sighed dramatically.

Nightwing ignored her. "Put it down!" he said again, more harsh than last time. Cyborg had his sonic canon pointed at Slade, and Nightwing had a bird-a-rang ready. Changeling was turned into a rhino, ready to charge.

Raven used dark energy to deweapon Slade where he stood. Within seconds of the act, Slade disappeared into a cloud of smoke. The warehouse was consumed in unesay silence as cyborg walked up to the wall Slade had been plastered on just five seconds ago. "He's gone." Cyborg said. Nightwing growled. "I'll start looking for clues. We will find him." He turned to Raven. "Update the tower and search outside for any more evidence." He continued to belt out a whole slew of demands but my attention drew toward the blonde girl who ran a hand through her hair.

She rubbed her temple. "What an ass. Slade, I mean." Nightwing gave her a look. "Okay," she admitted. "That was harsh. I probably offended some poor innocent mules somewhere." She stood there for several seconds brushing off her legs. She seemed completely unafraid and un shaken even though she was just a hostage. "Sooooo, I'll be on my way out." She said as she was backing up toward the door. Raven telepathically closed the doors. "Why were you here?" Raven asked. The whole team gathered and looked at her, except for Nightwing who was searching every spot of the room for clues. Cyborg was scanning the room but keeping an ear open to the conversation. She backed up into the shadows, hiding the left side of her body. "Woke up here." She stated pointedly. Everyone in the team looked a little surprised. "Why did Slade want you?" I found myself asking. "It's Slade, probably wants a new lap dog or something. He has been trying to blackmail me for weeks. However I am very good at covering my tracks, he finally found me, maybe, 10 hours ago." Her voice was cold. I was going to ask her more when Starfire cut me off. "What is your name? Did Slade hurt you? Are in need of medical assistance?" She visibly warmed a bit toward Starfire. "Call me Max and the only thing hurt was my arm. It's not that bad." Mari sat pulled the girl out of the shadows and searched her arm. There is a cut in your jacket, it may have pierced the skin." Now this caught Cyborg's attention.

" I found nothing, NW." Cyborg reported .Nightwing sighed and they both turned toward Max. "We should ask the girl. She must know something."

Cyborg moved an old crate next to Max beckoning her to sit down, and she did. "Nightwing, the questions can wait, I should check her arm first." He turned to her. "Can you remove your jacket? It'll only take a minute." She slowly slid her jacket off and as she slid the jacket off with her good arm, right below the shoulder became a red blur of blood. A deep gash lined forearm, narrowly missing her artery, by the looks of it. Blood dripped down her arm and hand, plipping onto the concrete. "Nightfire, get me the first aid kit." She quickly flew to fetch it. Max gazed up and down her arm. "I've had worse; I'll be fine once I'm stitched up." She turned to Cyborg. "Don't bother with pain killers my body doesn't react well to them. I can go without." Nightfire sat beside her, handing the first aid kit to Cyborg, "Is there anyone I can call? Your parents?"Nightfire put a blue glove on Maxes shoulder."Nope." She replied," I will be fine". Her face was getting paler, and surrounding her arm was a pool of blood underneath it. Mari tried to distract her from it by chatting away and Cyborg had already finished stitching up the wound and was bandaging it up. "How are you feeling?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder. "Max?" Her eyes became unfocused and blurred. Her body fell limp onto Mari, who almost dropped her. I immediately stepped in, using my increased strength to hold her up. "She has passed out from the loss of blood. What do you want to do Nightwing, it's your call." Cyborg said. Nightwing looked at the unconscious girl, no more than eighteen, probably sixteen. "Take her to the tower." He said.


	2. Chapter 2

Max POV

I woke up in a daze. The first thing that alerted me was the beeping of machines echoing through the room, the whooshing of automatic door opening and closing, and the sounds of distant voices and conversation. I could also hear the TV buzzing. I paused. It was a tune from a children's TV show playing. This was not my house. This wasn't even in the same neighbourhood because I could hear the sea outside. I also could hear breathing in the other room. My hearing abilities even allowed me to hear the faint thumps of heartbeats. However, in this "soundproof" room, my hearing was knocked down a couple of notches. I could hear the quiet thumps, but they all mended together, I couldn't place them or count them. The smell of breakfast drifted I the air, but it was old and stale, hours ago. The sharp sent of disinfectant and medicines surrounded me. I was in the medical wing. The scent of titans who came in and out lingered in the air, the most common one was Cyborg's. I didn't want to open my eyes, to make this real. But reality was seeping through my brain through my ears and nose.

My eyelids opened slowly to the room around me. The door whooshed open quietly to reveal one of the titans. Nightfire, I believe. She was rearranging something on the window, flowers? I caught her sent in the breeze of the window. It was Nightfire. She was very pretty. She had blazing green eyes and flawless ivory skin. Wearing an ice blue cut-off tank top, showing a line of skin, just below her bellybutton, chrome coloured leggings, and silver armlets with adorning sapphires, she looked like an exotic model. She quickly took note of my staring and let out of squeal of happiness (I think?). Her red hair flew around her as she flew around the room in excitement. She flung open the door before I could stop her. "She's awake!"Her voice echoed down the halls and with each repetition I internally winced.

Cyborg was immediately in the room, closely followed by a pretty woman with dark skin and full buns in her hair. She held out a hand. "Hi Max, I'm Bumblebee." Her voice was smooth and warm like coffee. I took her hand and shook it. As soon as I looked away from bee I saw the whole room filled with other titans. I felt like the main attraction in a three ring circus. Cyborg looked over the charts and monitors, shutting them off one by one. I was wearing a grey long sleeve shirt over my tank top, and I could feel the bandage from the cut underneath the material. Cyborg looked at the charts once more.

"Looks like you'll make it." He said smiling. "Thanks, doc." I replied just as chipper. I looked around the room. Starfire was chatting with Nightfire, sitting at the end of the hospital bed. They were obviously related. I squinted. Mother and daughter, no doubt. Bee and Cyborg were rolling the machines back in their place. The matching rings on their fingers caught my eye. "Congrats." I said. "On the engagement." Bumblebee smiled. "How'd you know?" "Rings." I said sitting up and turning myself so my legs were off the bed. "They look new." Bumblebee smiled and Cyborg put an arm around her, making her giggle. The door whooshed once again, this time revealing a more serious crowd. Changeling came in first, followed by Raven, Nightwing, and Crimson. Bumblebee and Cyborg immediately separated, Nightfire sat up and Starfire stood silently. "Mari," I heard Starfire whisper lowly. "Go to the common room with Dove, we shall meet you there." Nightfire got up and slid past the other titans exiting the room. Dove? For the second the door was open I could hear a small heart beat from downstairs. A child? Nightwing snapped me out of my concentration. "Why don't we talk?" He said it like a statement rather than a question, and everyone except him, Crimson, Changeling and Raven emptied from the room. I brought my legs up on the bed and brought myself into a cross legged pose. "Alright," I studied him. "About what?"


	3. Chapter 3

Raven's POV

The titan household had been on edge lately. I could sense that the guys were keeping secrets from me for the last couple of weeks. Usually I ended up being the one everyone let in on their secrets, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. If Gar, Nightwing, and Cyborg were keeping a secret, they were keeping it for a reason. When we entered the hospital wing 'Max' was sitting on the bed, investigating the room with her large blue eyes. When she looked at the vast ocean showing out of the window, a wave of uneasiness filled her. The medical room itself made her a little on edge, it seemed. She watched it closely as though it was an enemy. One eye was barley seen behind the light blonde bangs that covered one side of her face. Her face and hair were till dirty from the fight, as were her clothes .She dimly reminded me of someone, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like I had seen her somewhere. Nightwing asked her questions about Slade, and he seemed surprisingly sympathetic toward her. This in turn confused her. She answered all of the questions truthfully, but they she didn't know anything that we didn't. She joked a lot during the questioning, poking fun at Slade, trying to lighten the heavy mood in the room, but it didn't work. She tried to come off as innocent, but a gleam of mischief in her eyes gave her away. Once the questioning was over, Nightwing left a final question hanging in the air. "Is there any family we can contact?" He asked. She thought about it for a little while, "None that will pick up the phone." She said simply. She stood up from the bed. "When can I leave?" She asked. Nightwing stood up as well. "Until we know why Slade wants you, you'll have to stay here at the tower." Her face fell. She didn't like the plan, and I agreed with that. He was going to keep her here? Not only would that be at risk to us, but it would attract Slade to the tower, to Dove. I couldn't let that happen. I was going to ask Max to leave the room, so I could discuss this with Gar and Dick, but she beat me to it. "I'm going to go to the bathroom" she said walking out the door. Her head peaked back in and she smiled. "If I don't come back in ten minutes, I probably got lost." The door whooshed behind her. I opened my mouth to talk but Nightwing cut me off. "Raven, _we_ need to tell you something." Nightwing said 'we' but looked to Gar to egg him on.I looked at Gar. He smiled squeamishly and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. That was never good.I raised one eyebrow and gave a threatening look. "What?"

Max POV

The bathroom was just down the hall. After seeing the cold look that Raven was giving Nightwing I figured that I should get the hell out of there. I crawled in and looked in the mirror. I knew it wasn't good, but I didn't think it was that bad. Folded over the bathroom sink to get a better look my hair was everywhere, my makeup smudged messily, and traces of dirt, blood and sweat blotched my skin in some areas. My clothes were worse. The shower looked so tempting, but it would be useless without clean clothes to change into. I washed as much of the grime off of me from the sink. I found a face cloth and some air freshener under the sink, after I finished cleaning all I could, I coated myself in… I looked at the label. Hawaiian Breeze. That sounded better than the lovely hostage fragrance I was sporting. I could still smell Slade on the clothes, from when he dragged me into the warehouse. Gross. I tried not to let my senses take over as I traveled back to the room. I didn't need to know what was going on everywhere else until I got myself out of this Slade ordeal. The metallic door whooshed open. I knew I was in the right place because my nose was met with the sharp scent of disinfectant. I really did hate that smell. When I walked in they were all standing and talking calmly, but I could sense the tension, when they noticed my immediate presence, the talking halted. Raven visually investigated me, looking at my face and eyes especially. Changeling and Nightwing did a similar dance,but I met Raven's eyes. They were beautiful. _She_ was beautiful. I sighed. Even Nightwing looked fabulous compared to me right now. Nightwing continued the conversation. "We need a team meeting to discuss this." He said pounding his fist, into his other hand. I had a feeling that I would see that a lot. That and a whole bunch of "team pep talks". I groaned. "And I need clean clothes." I said, copying his stayed strong. "Clothes can wait. The team can't." I glared at him when he turned around to leave, the other titans in tow. "You know what? You're right I don't really need clean clothes. No, what I_ really_ need is a drink." I muttered almost silently. I'm sure by the way Changeling stiffened he overheard, but didn't mention it as he left me alone in the room with Raven. She had an emotionless look on her pale face, but I could smell her anger. Thankfully I was not on the other side of that knife. I sat down on the bed, and she drew closer, gliding effortlessly with her cloak billowing around her. "We should talk," She looked me over once again and sighed. "But first, let's get you some clothes."


End file.
